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HOUSEWIFK
en who watch soap operas defy target demographic
BY STEPHEN WELLS
The Battalion
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? that includes
ore and more, things once thought to
be strictly the domain of the female
have fallen to the advances of men.
■ Today, the same men who once tried to
pic k their nose and wipe it on their playmates
are showing their faces in delivery rooms,
leafing through “better relationship” books
and joining focus groups to try to get in touch
with their feminine side.
■ it was only a matter of time, then, until
the soap opera — once the most un
touchable of female institutions —
was discovered by males and as
similated into their belching
and barbequing existence.
■ Sometimes men de-
vllop an interest
people sleeping with each other and trying to
kill each other. It just so happened that we
started watching the show more and more,
until I knew enough about it to watch it on
my own.”
Once they begin watching their soaps, men
find it hard to turn away from them regard
less of outside pressure.
“I get made fun of every now and then, but
I can always make fun back at my friends for
LiteraryAr- velop an interest in
Shakespear watching soaps after
■h will fear:; a f ew chance view-
for thosev j n g S while channel
biepentam- surfing.
^■Scott Corby, a
sophomore agri
cultural econom
ics major, said he
discovered his
faWite drama
by watching an
Hisode on a
whim.
■ “It’s the most
cliche thing in
the world to say,”
Corby said. “But
you know how
you flip through
the channels and
start watching
ann, an Ei
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love for it.
to talk aboi;
sJational Peo
something just be
cause it’s the only
thing on that’s
worth watching?
m “Then 1 had to
finish watcluvvg, the
show to see how
everything turned out,
ol( course. The next time
I saw the show while I
; was flipping through the
■ channels I just started to
_ ! watch it again. Pretty soon I
■as trying to keep up with
ruitthe everything that was going on, and
^it iust became routine to watch the
4!!! show."
.■I For others, the drive to know exactly what
is going on in a television show fueled their
desire to see more episodes.
1 David Westall, a junior economics major,
said his knowledge of the dynamics of a soap
opera helped him ease into watching the
^ sshow on a regular basis.
I “I walked in once when my roommate was
. watching his favorite show and just sat down
1 (ACAD 1 .'out of habit,” Westall said. “One of the peo-
t mu.edu/mple was doing something terrible to another
[one of the characters, so I asked why.
QUIRED! “You know there is never a simple reason
-for it, so he launched into a big story about
Texas AbM
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RUBEN DELUNA/Tmi Battalion
watching wrestling,” Westall said. “But it’s
kind of hard to stop watching and I don’t
want to anyway. At the end of each week,
something big happens, so I keep on watch
ing week after week.”
Such viewer teasing is not limited to soap
operas and can, in fact, be found in more
testosterone-centric programming.
“I was watching wrestling with my friends
and they do the same thing on that show they
do on soap operas,” Westall said. “At the very
end of the show, one guy came out and scared
away all the others and announced he was go
ing to fight a big fight the next week. Sure
enough, we watched the next week to see the
fight.”
Sometimes, a man does not make the
choice to watch a soap opera but is forced to
out of circumstance.
Elana Ruiz, a freshman speech communi
cation major, said her boyfriend watches soap
operas because she must watch his program
ming.
“If I have to watch football on Sunday, he
has to watch Fox on Tuesday,”
Ruiz said. “He pretends he
can’t stand my shows, but
every time one person will
do something wrong to
another, he is the first
one to speak up about
it. In reality, he gets
into the show even
more than I do, but
he won’t admit to
it.”
Today’s soap
opera is more so
phisticated than
the amnesiac, un
known relative, ul
tra-rich and de
based sexual
practice plot lines
most male viewers
associate with
soap operas.
“I think soap
operas today try
to avoid the old-
fashioned things
like people mis
taken for dead or
whatever,” Corby
said. “It’s really
more true to life
than the old
shows like ‘Dal
las.’ People don’t
just randomly have
an affair or pull out a
gun and shoot some
body else. Everything is
done for a good reason,
and sometimes I can tell
myself that I would do the
same thing in the same circum
stances.”.
Men find a depth of character in
soap operas they can not find in the clas
sical “male” program.
“It’s hard to get attached to an action pro
gram because all but two or three characters
get killed or arrested at the end of the show,”
Corby said. “The only characters who return
every week don’t develop in the same way
soap opera characters do.
“From week to week on ‘Melrose Place,’
the characters have relationships that change.
In an action series, there’s always a clear-cut
difference between the good guys and the bad
guys. In a soap opera, things aren’t so clear,
so you have to think more, but you can root
for the bad guy if the other character is
worse. ”
Q. Do you wonder what your future holds?
A. Come talk to UCS and discover the answers.
UCS has been in computer and automotive business for twenty-eight years.
We are looking for many different majors and backgrounds for entry level
positions including sales, customer service, consulting, programming and
technical support for our Houston, College Station and other regional
offices. For more information, please stop by and visit with our depart
ment representatives:
Liberal Arts Career Fair
Friday, April 9, 1999
Rudder Exhibit Hall
Rudder Tower
If you are unable to attend, but would still like to apply, please call or visit
our website.
Universal Computer Systems, Inc.
409-595-2609
Fax (713) 718-1401
www.universalcomputersys.com
UCS hires non-tobacco users only.
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